Simple Machines...Our class was very lucky to get a special visitor, Mr. Best (Keegan's dad) came to help us as we were busy working at building simple machines. He was a great assistant as pairs of students used diagrams to build a pulley, lever, inclined plane, wedge, and wheel and axle. Students had kits that would allow them to create these 5 different simple machine and test them out. Our goal was to learn that simple machines help us make our work easier. We will continue with these concepts and when we are done we hope to understand each machine.

Earth Day and Family Fun!

As the weather gets warmer getting outside is something we all look forward to. Click on the link below to access a site that is full of ideas for outside family fun. Summer is coming and this site also lets you locate places that everyone can have fun. You can find locations by distance, desired activities, and dates. Enjoy looking around this site! http://www.naturerocks.org/why-nature-rocks.aspx

Third grade students will also be given a tree on Monday, April 21st from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. These trees are a way to encourage taking care of the earth and helping the environment. The seedling trees that third grade students will receive this year are the pecan which were shipped for the DNR through the Jasper-Pulaski State Nursery.The Pecan (Carya illinoensis) Tree:The pecan tree is best known for its popular, edible fruit. It is said to be the largest of the native hickories. Pecan is one of the most valuable cultivated plants originating in North America. At Maturity, the tree will vary in height from 110-140 feet tall and 2-4 feet in diameter. The pecan has long leaves of 12-20 inches with 9-17 oblong pointed leaflets. Tiny greenish flowers appear in the early spring before the leaves and hang from a stalk or tip of the tree. The pecan also produces a nut that grows in a reddish-brown, sharp, and pointed husk that will split into 4 sections when the nut is ripe. The fruit of this tree is an excellent source of food for squirrels, birds, turkey, and deer. The pecan tree has a high timber value for saw logs and veneer. It is sometimes planted as a shade tree or occasionally grown for a nut crop in Indiana. The pecan is an important crop in the southern states.Planting:The pecan tree grows well on moist well-drained, fertile soil. It should be planted where there is plenty of sunlight. It is the least tolerant, but fastest growing of the hickories. Choose a location with well-drained soil, making sure the soil is moist.

Test the soil by digging a hole 8 inches wide and 32
inches deep. Pour 7 gallons of water into the
hole. Check the water level periodically. If the water is gone within eight
hours after pouring it in, the soil has excellent drainage. If it takes 24 hours
to drain, it's still okay to plant. But if there's still water in the hole after
48 hours, the drainage is insufficient and you should try another location.

Soak the tree's roots in water for an hour or so.

Dig a hole for the tree while the roots are soaking. The hole should be the
same size as the root ball and deep enough to cover only the roots.

Place the tree in the hole. Fill the hole with loose soil all around the
roots. Use the same soil you dug out. Press the soil around the roots as you
work.

Add at least 5 gallons of water when the hole is ¾ full and wait
for the soil to absorb it.

Finish filling the hole with soil. Press down the soil as you go along,
except at the top of the hole, where the soil should be loose.

After you've planted the tree, the following will ensure proper growth:

High School Science Club Students joined our classroom to talk about Earth Day! Mr. Eyrich, Miss Whybrew, and Miss Zentz took time away from the high school to come over and share what they know about the three R's: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. They shared a sorting game with our class and then helped them create posters about saving the Earth.

IN THE NEWS...Landon and Barre made the news in the Marshall Country Shopper this week! They were creating their design for our juice box challenge (more pictures are located in the science section of the more tab on our webpage).

Student Engineers In ActionOur third graders have been learning about different forms of energy, light, shadow, absorption, reflection, and refraction during science. Teams were given a "real world" design challenge to solve with colored duct tape, foil, cotton, cardboard, and paper. Each team needed to use what they had learned during science class to create a juice box holder that could keep a square juice box snug inside of a round car cup holder to prevent spills; plus the holder needed to keep the juice inside as cool as it could with the hot sun beating down on it. All of the students knew that light colors would be better than dark colors, and that their boxes needed to be insulated. Some of them even remembered that shiny materials help to reflect the sun's light and heat. Teams designed amazing juice box holders that met the challenges they were faced with. Everyone was able to keep their square boxes safely inside of round cup holders and find ways to slow down the warming of their juice. Some of these teams had amazing ideas and beautiful execution of those ideas in producing products to be proud of and showcase their mastery of science concepts. Samantha and Brayden's design was the top performing creation since it kept the juice inside the coolest. Several other teams were extremely close.

Creating Sound Absorbing WallsOur third grade class is full of expert sound engineers! We recently finished our studies of sound by working on a design challenge that has a real world problem; how to reduce sound in a classroom with sound absorbing walls? Students tested different materials out with sound boards and determined which ones would absorb sound the best. Next, they had to figure out how they could build a model wall that they could test and observe if it reduced sound in a model classroom. We had a client, a user, materials, and constraints that had to be followed. Then, designs were created in our science notebooks, models were build, and finally we tested each wall before recording the data. Take a look at some of engineers in action!

Rock BandOur class has been learning about sound in science. After several lessons and hands on activities to learn about energy, vibration, pitch, volume, and sound waves. Students began a new engineering design challenge. Their mission was to help out a musical group known as "ROCK STARZ," that had a performance in Indianapolis, but unfortunately had lost their instruments in transit. Students needed to produce instruments that were within a certain amount of time, size, sound, and cost constraints. This not only allowed for creative design, but understanding science vocabulary, time management, measurement, and money to be successful in producing their product. We had some amazing outcomes. See these marvelous creations done by our third graders below...

We are designing again! Our class is now working towards connecting the scientific process with the engineering design process even more. As a practice towards our next state standard in science on sound, we are practicing the stages by creating a lifeguard chair. Students are finding that they have a client, end users, and constraints to impact their designing before starting a prototype. We hope to test out these chairs on Monday. Enjoy looking at some of the photos or our kids in action!

Final Results for the Puff Mobile RaceOur students did an awesome job creating new ideas and making changes to their puff mobiles since our the first trial race at school! Students found out many flaws within the designs they had built and the materials that they used; and this helped them make big improvements in the redesign of new puff mobiles. We enjoyed hearing what each student found out about the design flaws in their original car and what they did with their new design. to fix problems. Students noticed changes in wheels that were smoother or less sticky helped the cars move faster, even adding ski-like adaptions to their cars made them move smoother. They found that lower to the ground meant faster since less wind would hold them back, and that the lighter the design was, the easier it was to blow it and give it power! First place cars were Ana, Brayden, and Olivia. After several ties in this group, Brayden took the most wins. In the second place finish the winner was Keegan, and Trace came out on top in our third race! We have a classroom of winners! Everyone did a great job, and families were a fantastic support in helping their children complete a car at home to bring to the race! Congratulations to everyone! Enjoy our class photos of all of the great creations and race events below.

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